AUBURN | Auburn could start a true freshman at point guard when the season opens in just under six weeks.

That’s no big surprise since the Tigers signed five-star Sharife Cooper to essentially replace J’Von McCormick after the senior finished up his eligibility.

What’s surprising is another true freshmen has stepped up into the middle of that competition in Justin Powell, who was originally signed as more of a shooting guard. The two newcomers are competing with sophomore Tyrell Jones.

“So he's got more ball-handling, decision-making, playmaking, reads out of ball screen ability than I thought he did,” said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl of Powell. “He's obviously a terrific shooter. He's got a really high basketball IQ. He's been well-coached. He's got good defensive fundamentals. He's earned the respect of his teammates and our coaches.”

Pearl said Powell is nearly back to 100 percent from the groin injury that kept him from competing for a state championship his senior season at North Oldham in Prospect, Ky., and perhaps garnering even more honors such as Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball.

“That recovery took place throughout the summer,” Pearl explained. “He came back here in the summer, and he wasn't completely 100 percent ready. But he worked through this summer, our trainer, Clark Pearson, and strength coach, Damon Davis, as well as the doctors … have done a really nice job to the point where he's good to go.”

Powell could certainly swing over to the shooting guard spot as the Tigers’ look to improve their 3-point shooting from a year ago. It’s not out of the question that Powell could share the backcourt with Cooper for extended minutes this season.

Cooper was the headliner of AU’s 2020 class, ranked by Rivals as the nation’s No. 22 overall player and No. 5 point guard.

“When he was a freshman at McEachern High School, my guess is he was about 5-9, 125 pounds soaking wet. He is a self-made player,” Pearl said. “He is a grinder. He is a gym rat. Very much like Jared Harper did, he is working very hard to grow that body, and he looks differently than he did in high school, even right now.”

Cooper is listed on AU’s just released roster as 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds while Powell is 6-6, 205. Pearl sees a lot of Jared Harper in Cooper. Harper is also from Georgia and finished his three-year career in 2019 leading AU to the Final Four and becoming only the third player in program history to amass over 1,000 points and 500 assists.

“I think at first, when he came in, he was deferring a little bit, trying to get everyone involved,” said Pearl of Cooper. “Then, over a period of time, as he began to understand the offense, realized that, for his team to win, he needed to be more aggressive offensively as a scoring point guard.

“I will say he is ahead of Jared as a freshman, but he is not Jared Harper yet, because we remember Jared as a junior. But I’ll tell you, one of the things that he does really well is he’s probably a better interior passer than Jared, and he can actually score at the rim making tough 2s better than Jared. Jared developed incredible range from 3. I think Sharife is going to be close to that, but he’s not there yet … Been a great teammate. Been a leader. He’s a very, very – he doesn’t like to lose, and he’s really, really competitive out there.”

Auburn will open the season Nov. 25 in an Orlando tournament.